"They're Poor"

[Content Note: Classism.]

This is such a good piece: "The Unsexy Truth About Millennials: They're Poor."

Millennials are not some vast unsolvable mystery. According to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau (PDF), they earn $2,000 less than their parents did at a comparable age, they are more likely to live in poverty, and they are more likely to live at home.

But Baby Boomers and Gen Xers still seem to find it hard to believe that basic economic math can explain much of the younger generation's behavior.

...The truth is that lower wages and poverty can account for so many of the things that older generations find so mystifying about millennials.

I highly recommend reading the whole thing.

As I have said many, many, many times in this space: There are so many expenses now that previous generations simply did not have.

Computers, internet, cable, mobile phones, mobile phone plans... None of which are "luxuries." You need those things to survive. And they're expensive.

Combine those expenses with wage stagnation and the increased cost of everything from groceries to homes, and it's a recipe for struggling to survive, no less thrive.